About Stevens Creek County Park: First established in 1924, Stevens Creek Park is the oldest of the Santa Clara County parks. The park, now 1,042 acres including the 93 acre reservoir, offers a great variety of plant communities which reflect the differences in topography, moisture availability, and orientation to the sun. Similarly, wildlife diversity in the park is highly due to the diversity of habitat. It is also a very popular birding location, with over 125 species having been recorded to date. Stevens Creek dam was built by the WPA in 1936 and seismically reinforced in the 1980s.
Directions to Trail Head: The entrance to the park is located along Stevens Canyon Road and Mt. Eden Road in the foothills between Saratoga and Cupertino. From 280: Take Interstate Highway 280 to Foothill Expressway. Follow Foothill Blvd. west three miles to the northern park entrance (Foothill Blvd. changes into Stevens Canyon Road as it crosses McClellan Road). From Saratoga, travel north on Highway 9 to Pierce Road. Turn onto Pierce Road and travel 1.8 miles to Mt. Eden Road. Turn left onto Mt. Eden Road and travel 1.5 miles to the south park entrance. From 85 take the Stevens Creek exit and turn left. Make a left on Foothill Expressway which will turn into Stevens Canyon Road. Follow the directions above to continue onto the park entrance. There is a $6.00 fee for a day parking pass.
Hike Description: We started the hike from the main parking lot, which is the first one after entering the park road, and walked upstream along the creek by the spillway and front of the dam. We then followed the Coyote Ridge trail up the canyon into the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve where we had magnificent views of San Francisco Bay, Mt. Diablo, and the Santa Clara Valley. The Coyote Ridge trail took us to Maisie's Peak, the highest point in Fremont Older Open Space and named for the late Maisie Garrod, matriarch of the family that now owns and operates Garrod Farms, which is adjacent to the Fremont Older Open Space, We returned via the wooded Lookout trail which took us back into Stevens Creek Park where we enjoyed occasional views of Mount Eden, Montebello Ridge, Skyline Ridge, and Stevens Canyon. After a stop at the Madrone Group Picnic Area water fountain, we continued our return via the Tony Look trail (also called the REI trail) through chapparral hillsides and wooded canyons along the east perimeter of the reservoir, past Stevens Creek dam and spillway, and back to the parking lot along the creek trail. This hike was a little over six miles in length and took us about three hours.
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The Hikers at Stevens Creek County Park |
Winery View |
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Fremont Older Open Space |
View from Maisie's Peak |
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Mines in Distance |
Stables |
Stevens Creek County Park Home Page
Stevens Creek Park Trail Map - Map of Freemont Older
